The Chargers’ Shaun Phillips puts a hit on Broncos quarterback Chris Simms that forces a fumble in the first quarter. The Broncos had driven to the San Diego 17-yard line. The Chargers got the ball at their 31 and drove 69 yards for the game’s first score, a lead they would not relinquish.

Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold analyzes the team’s effort to run the ball in its 32-3 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday:

Before Sunday’s game went completely south for the Broncos – roughly about the second quarter or so – they showed early that they have not left their familiar zone blocking totally behind with the changes in the offensive playbook.

In the first quarter, when the Broncos rushed for 42 of their 115 rushing yards, the offense flashed some of its familiar look in the running game. On their first five running plays of the game, the linemen all fired out in unison, either left or right, limiting the gaps and washing the defenders out of the play.

Those five running plays went for nine, eight, eight, four and three yards as the Broncos moved quickly into Chargers’ territory. They ran, again, on the sixth and seventh plays of the drive, for eight and two yards, with more of a head-up approach as they attacked specific defenders.

The eighth play of the drive was going to be a pass attempt, but Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips knocked the ball away from quarterback Chris Simms with a blind-side swat.

Things got away from the Broncos for much of the game after that and Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said they couldn’t settle into a routine running the ball much after that. But the first drive showed they are using a hybrid approach, with what they did under Mike Shanahan and what they have added with McDaniels’ playbook.

“I think we can do both,” said Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter. “When we get it going, we can run the ball.”

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